Cameos: Ewan McGregor (1994)

The young Scot turns nasty in Shallow Grave

Ewan McGregor had a rude awakening while researching his role as cub reporter Alex in the Scottish thriller Shallow Grave. "I thought it would be all running about and jumping into taxis: 'Drive, drive.'" Maybe if you're describing editorial outings to the pub, but most journalists today are glued to computers. And that's not the half of it: in his search for inspiration for his role in Danny Boyle's acclaimed film, the 23-year-old actor also found himself listening to Billy Connolly albums.
   "I had to find a way not to feel uncomfortable about being agressive to people," confesses McGregor. "Alex was openly aggressive and I'm not." Some of it rubbed off. "I'd suddenly be humiliating people at parties. It was quite worrying."
   In Shallow Grave, Alex and his two flatmates (Kerry Fox and Christopher Eccleston) decide to bury their lodger when they find him dead next to a suitcase bulging with cash. Grisly dismemberment of the corpse leads to suspicion and more brutality, with police and thugs hot on their trail. Such images couldn't be further from the fresh-faced actor sitting before me in a North London pub, tugging at the sleeves of his jumper. McGregor is as friendly and engaging as Alex is unlikeable and arrogant - to the point of declaring that he actually likes doing interviews: "It's interesting to talk about all the different events between 16 and now; you suddenly remember what they meant to you in isolation."
   After leaving school, McGregor got a job working backstage at Perth Rep: "I was an arsehole, being far too keen, trying to make everyone like me, trying to learn abot everything at once". Drama school was swiftly followed by starring roles in Dennis Potter's Lipstick On Your Collar, and more recently, as Julien Sorel in the BBC adaptation of Stendhal's French classic Scarlet And Black, which featured much romping between the sheets. All in a day's work, according to McGregor. "Love scenes can be embarrassing and they can be really lovely too. I'm quite open about it, in that I'm not embarrassed by nudity. I've been driven to work in the morning, taken my clothes off, been made-up and spent all day in bed with somebody, pretending to make love."
   McGregor can next be seen in Blue Juice, set among Cornwall's surfing community, so there seems to be plenty of work in the UK, at least for him. Is he ever tempted by Hollywood? "I really want to work with someone who's using the medium as an art," says McGregor, before breaking into a grin. "But if I was offered the lead in an adventure movie in the States, I'd be the first one to jump on a plane. I'd love to run about a jungle with a gun."